Brouck



" No. 624,649. Patented May Q, |899.

f S; A. HASBROUGK.

CONVERTIBLE CMPUUND EXPLOSIVE ENGINE.

(Apli'cmon med Feb. 17, 189s.)- up model.)

, s EN NTTED STATES PATENT FFICE.

CONVERTIBLECOMPOUND EXPLOSlVEn-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 624,649, dated May 9, 1899.

Application iiled February 1'7, 1898. Serial No. 670,696. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN AUGUSTUS HAS- BROUCK, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, in the county of .New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas, Oil, and other Like Engines, which a simple and speedy means of transforming a compound engine toa double or twin engine, and vice versa.

The most important feature of my invention is the addition of an auxiliary valve operating in connectionwith the usual valves, as hereinafter set forth, and the mechanism for so operating the valves herein described will also be claimed as a separate feature.

My invention also involves the addition of an igniter to the low-pressure cylinder.-

My invention is of especial utility in gas, oil, or'other like engines used for traction purposes, where it is of great importance for the operator to have an additional source of l power to be used when needed on accountof heavy grades, rough roads, or other impediments, and to be able to bring such eXtra power into use speedily and by simple means. My invention enables the operator to do this by the transformation mentioned, which greatly increases the power of the engine for the time being. When theextra power is no longer needed, the engine can be instantly brought back toits ordinary mode of operation.

The accompanying drawings illustrate so much of the mechanism as is necessary to an understanding of my invention.

Figure 1 shows the valves and connectingpassage in section and the remainder of the mechanism, including the mechanism for operating the valves, in perspective. Fig. 2

shows simply a section of the valves and connecting-passage.

The several parts of the mechanism are des-` ignated as follows in the drawings and in the references thereto.

A and B are the cylinders, A being used as the high-pressure cylinder and B as the lowpressure cylinder when the engine is operated as a compound engine.

I I indicate the igniters for each cylinder. More than one high-pressure cylinder may be used in exactly the same manner, if desired.

D is the admission-valve, and C the eX- haust valve, of the cylinder A. F is the admission-valve, and E the exhaust-valve, of the cylinder B. Theadmission-valves are each connected with the reservoir in which the gas or other medium is stored by a common supply-pipe. This is not shown in the drawings, as it is simply the usual construction. The exhaust-valves C and E open into and are connectedby a passage H, containing an auxiliary valve Gr, opening on the outer air, with or without a muflier `to deaden the sound. The valves may be of any of the usual and approved forms. In the drawings they are supposed to be of the ordinary pop variety. The mechanismV for their operation y is illustrated in the drawings, Fig. 1, as follows:

'The valves D and C are operatedbya slide 7, which is attached by means of the links 6 6' engages with another lever 17, fastened to the shaft'3. There is also another bell-crank lever 11 on shaft 2, having at the end of its p upper arm a slot 13, adapted to engage with the pin 12.

The two bell-crank levers and 11 and the I lever 9 are actuated, respectively, by cams 4, 8, and 10 on a cam-shaft 1. The lever 17 is provided with a shoulder 27, which engages with the shoulder 26 of lever 16. Another shoulder 28 of lever 17 engages with the shoulder 29 of catch 18. 20 and 23 are springsoperating as hereinafter set forth. When not actuated by the mechanism described, the

IOO

the crank-shaft by means of the usual gearing 24. The several shafts are set in the engine in the usual manner, which it is not deemed necessary to represent.

The method of operation of the mechanism is as follows, taking for the purposes of the description a gas-engine of the usual type, with one high-pressure and one low-pressure cylinder: The drawings represent the machine in operation as a compound engine. The cam-shaft 1,*actuated bythe crank-shaft of the engine, which is started in the usual by the arrow at one-half the speed of the crank-shaft, and the cam 4E, engaging with the bell-crank lever 5, pulls down the slide 7 by means of the links 6 6, and thereby pushes down the stem of the admission-valve D, thus opening it and admitting the charge into the cylinder A. 'After the toe of the cam has passed the bell-crank lever 5 the slide 7 is brought back by the spring to its neutral position, thus closing the valve D. The same result may also be accomplished independently of the spring by using a cam provided with two toes of proper shape. The charge thus admitted is compressed and ignited in the usual manner and by its expansion furnishes the power-stroke of the high-pressure cylinder'. At the end of the stroke the cam l pushes up the slide 7 by means of the bellcrank lever 5 and the links 6 6, thus opening the exhaust-valve G. The gas thus allowed to escape passes through the passage H and into the cylinder B through the valve E, held permanently open by the lever 17, supporting the extension 19 of the `slide 2l. The lever 17 is fastened by a set-screw or other convenient means on the shaft 3, which is operated by the crank 22 and 4locked in the desired posi-tion by a catch on the crank. The gas, being thus admitted to the cylinder B, expands further and produces the power-stroke of that cylinder, the igniter thereof not being used when the engine is Working compound. At the end of this stroke the cam 8 (also driven by the cam-shaft 1) lifts the lever 9, and thus pushes open the valve G, so that the charge is exhausted into a muffler or into the outer air. The valve G thus acts as the exhaustvalve for the cylinder B. While the engine is operated in this manner, the admissionvalve F of cylinderB is held shut by its spring. The pin 12 is held out of engagement with the bell-crank lever-,11 bythe links 15 15 and the lever 16, which is locked in its required position by the shoulder 27 engaging with the shoulder 26. The catch 18 is held out of engagement with levert) by the shoulder 28 engaging with its shoulder 29.

When it is desired to change from a compound engine to a twin, this ,is done as folrevolves it, as shown by the arrow. This lowers the lever 17 and allows the extension 19 and the slide 21 to descend and the valve E to be closed by its spring. At the same phere.

f time the catch 18, being thus released, is lowered by the action of its spring 23 and comes into engagement with the toe 30 of lever 9 as such lever is lifted by the camV 8. The spring 23 holds the catch 18 in this position, and the lever 9, with which it is engaged, thus holds the val-ve G Vpermanently open. the same revolution of the crank 22 releases the lever 16, and the spring 20. pulls the pin 12 into engagement With the slot 13 at the'end of the upper arm of the bell-crank lever 11,

where itis held in such engagement by said manner, revolves in the direction indicatedspring. The slide 21 is thus brought into connection by means ofthe links 14 14 with the bell-crank lever 1l and is actuated by the cam 10 in a manner similar to that described for the slide 7, bell-crank lever 5, and cam 4. (It is to be observed that when the engine isru-n as a compound the cam 10 simply rocks the Y bell-crank lever 11 without further transmitting its motion.) The crank 22 is then revolved still further to remove all danger of g the shoulders 26 and 27 striking as the lever 16 oscillates. condition described each.cylinder acts as a I high-pressure cylinder and is operated in the With the mechanism in the same manner as that first described for the cylinder A, so that the engine becomes a twin i high-pressure engine, and the auxiliary valve G being held permanently open the passage H becomes practically a part of the atmos- Thecrank 22 is revolved 13, thus disconnecting the slide 21 from the bell-crank lever 11, the lever 17 comes in contact with the extension 19 and raisestheslide 1 21, the catch 18 is disengaged from the lever 9 and the valve G thus released, and the en-V ;gine thus returns'to the condition irst` described.

What I claim as new,y and desire to secure by Letters Patent' is as follows:

1. In a gas, oil or other like engine, the corn.-

bination of a plurality of'cylinders having igf niters, independent admission-Valves andini dependent exhaust-valves for each cylinder,

a passage connecting the exhaust-valves of two cylinders, a valve in said passageopening to the atmosphere, with means operable to set the exhaust-valve of one of said cylin- 1 ders open and the corresponding admission- I valve closed, and means operableto open and close the valve in said passage, whereby the engine may be operated as a multiple-cylinder high-pressure or as a compound engine, substantially as described. lows: The operator unlocks the crank 22 and 2. In a gas, oil or other like engine, thecom- Meanwhile In this mode of operation the igniter y for the low pressure cylinder isused. To change back to a compound engine, the above f operation is simply reversed and need not be described in detail. y in the opposite direction, the shoulders 27 and l 28 engage with the shoulders 26 and 2 9, re- A spectively, the pin` 12 is released from the sllot lOO IIO

bination of a plurality of cylinders, independ- Vent admission and exhaust valves for each cylinder, a passage connecting-the exhaustvalves and having a port leading to the atmosphere, a normally open auxiliary valve for closing said port, operating devices for the admission and exhaust Valves of each cylinder, and means throwing said devices for one of said cylinders out of action and permitting the closure of said auxiliary valve, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

STEPHEN vAUGUSTUS HASBROUCK.

Witnesses:

JOHN TOBIN, JAM-ES G. K. LEE. 

